By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustangs moved into their second full week of practice Monday and according to fifth-year head coach Donnie Willis, the team is "progressing at a steady rate."
The Mustangs began practice last Monday, earlier than some of the other AAAAA-East Conference teams. But that all changes this week as each of the eight league teams step up practice sessions another notch and work toward Thursday -- the first day the teams can put on full pads.
"The kids are ready to put on the pads," Willis said. "I think theyare ready to make some contact, especially the players we are counting on to be our leaders on the field this season."
Willis said the addition of assistant coaches Clark McBride and Ryan Wallace has brought a lot of "youthful enthusiasm" to the practices as well as "a lot of new energy."
Additionally, the return of veteran Mustang coach Tommy Wheetley to the high school staff this year gives the staff added coaching experience.
"The staff is having a great time," Willis said. "They are working together and the kids are feeding off that energy and right now we need that kind of energy. It's a good blend and a good combination."
Willis said players continue to trickle into practice as vacations come to an end.
"We are probably about 20 players short of having everyone here," Willis said. "We should have about 60 or more by the time we get everyone on the field."
The Mustangs worked out this morning and will go again this afternoon at 5 p.m.
The team will go to afternoon drills only beginning Wednesday.
The Mustangs, picked to finish fifth in the AAAAA-East this season, will open the season on Sept. 5, when they host Wynne.
Last week, Jonesboro's Jim DeVazier opted for a week of teaching.
The Hurricane practiced twice a day in shorts last week.
DeVazier's team will put on the pads Thursday.
Being restricted to shorts has been a hindrance for Jonesboro since the Hurricane is looking to replace several key players off a strong defensive unit, DeVazier said.
"We can throw passes and run plays offensively, but defensively it's a little tougher," DeVazier said. "We're using the time to learn plays and teach techniques. If we can get our schemes in, then we're ahead of the game next week when we get the pads on."
DeVazier said the Hurricane, picked to finish fourth in the East following last season's 9-3 campaign, will put an emphasis on replenishing that defensive unit hit hard by graduation.
Last year's 9-3 finish was its best record in two decades. The Hurricane lost in the quarterfinals of the Class AAAAA playoffs.
That success was thanks in large part to a stingy defense, which gave up 13.3 points per game.
Progress was made to replace that defense during the spring, DeVazier said.
"I'm happy with what we did in the spring," DeVazier said. "But it's going to take a little longer to get them ready."
The Hurricane offense will also get a boost since Cowan Hutson returned, after being dismissed from the team last year.
Cowan Hutson was one the team's top rushers when he was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons after the fifth game a year ago.
Blytheville is the smallest school in Class AAAAA and more than likely is beginning its final year in the state's largest classification.
Blytheville will likely have one of the smallest teams in the AAAAA-East, particularly along the line.
BHS has the fewest wins in the conference the last couple of years, finishing 2-8 in 2002 and picked to finish seventh in the conference this time around.
So, it's no wonder the Chicks are taking a lesson from the Bible.
"We're taking the approach that we're David, and we're fighting a lot of Goliaths," Blytheville head coach Doug Quinn said Tuesday in between two-a-day practices. "The thing that's important is David was a winner. We've got to be prepared. One of the big keys for us to be prepared to play is going to be conditioning. That's what we've got to use these practices for, to be able to build that level of conditioning up as well as introduce our offense and our defense."
Blytheville isn't just relying on the handful of two-a-days and regular practices to get into shape.
According to Quinn, the Chicks had a good turnout in the voluntary summer weightlifting program and last week's mini-camp. In addition, Blytheville participated in several seven-on-seven events, which pit schools around the state against each other in a non-contact passing contest.
"I thought that made for a good practice yesterday (Monday)," Quinn said. "I thought the level of conditioning of the players was pretty good yesterday. I thought the intensity level that they brought to practice was good. We've done a lot of additions on offense, and we're making some changes on defense. I thought the kids in the drill periods were very attentive. They worked very hard, they were very intense. We were really pleased with the practices yesterday."
Quinn hopes to dress out between 50 and 55 athletes this year.
"That's a good number, that's workable," Quinn said. "That's where we want to get to. The thing I've been impressed with, we've had some guys that we've been working with all throughout this year. They've been consistent. There has not been any surprises of losing anybody. There has been a lot of continuity that we've developed through playing seven-on-seven with our players. We're playing a lot of young kids. Our approach this year is everything is predicated on speed and movement. We're not going to be very big in a lot of places, but that's OK because what we're doing schemewise, both offensively and defensively, is to take advantage of speed and movement."
The line will really have to rely on speed.
"We're not going to be big up front," Quinn noted. "We're talking about anywhere between 205 and 225-pound linemen that are going to be able to move really well. And, I think that's going to be to our advantage."
Blytheville has added more running plays to its year-old, pass-oriented spread offense.
The Cabot Panthers as usual, are the preseason favorites to win the AAAAA-East.
As summer drills began, each player went through two primary lifting drills before taking the field for eight 300-meter runs.
Last Monday, the varsity did the power cling and bench press while the junior varsity went through military press and squat exercises.
The team went through the same drill on Tuesday, with the two units doing the lifts it didn't do the day before.
After lifting was finished Tuesday, it was back outside for eight more 300-meter runs.
Panther head coach Mike Malham said the team was well prepared for the first day of practice.
"It went pretty well," Malham said. "The kids have been in here lifting and running throughout the summer and today they were pretty much right where they needed to be."
The Panthers officially took the practice field last Thursday.
A year ago, the Panthers averaged 26 points per game and won a share of the conference title for the fifth time in six years.
After five days of mostly conditioning drills last week, the Mountain Home Bombers conducted their first two-a-day practices Monday.
Mountain Home head coach Shane Patrick, who is in his first season at the helm of the Bombers after taking over the team in midseason last year, welcomed 49 players to the first official practices of the 2003 season and was pleased with his club's first workouts, especially with the opener.
"We had a very good practice this morning," said Patrick. "I was really pleased with all the kids. We were all here on time and they worked hard. Just a great morning practice for the most part. Our afternoon practice was also very good, with just a few sluggish moments. But the kids battled through and overcame it. We got a lot accomplished in our first day."
Although the Bombers mostly worked on conditioning last week, they also worked on several aspects of the game plan.
"We're just to get accomplished what we've already put in," said Patrick, "going back and reviewing our defenses and polished up some of the plays we've already put in on offense. We also put in a couple of new wrinkles on offense today. A big part of our package is already in and we're just trying to get to where we are good at it."
The Bombers, beginning their second full season as a member of the AAAAA-East, have been picked to finish last, coming off last season's 1-9 campaign.
The Bombers worked a lot on their offensive schemes back in spring drills in late May, but Patrick says they are still in the learning stage.
"This has been a big adjustment for them since I got here in March," said Patrick. "We've had good practices on offense. Our kids are getting a lot done. They're learning."
The Bombers will continue two-a-day practices the rest of this week. The squad begins workouts in full pads Thursday.
Mountain Home holds its annual Blue-Gold scrimmages on Friday, Aug. 22.
On Friday, Aug. 29, the Bombers will take on Batesville in their final preseason scrimmage.
Mountain Home will travel to Fayetteville on Sept. 5 for its first game of the season.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Lady Mustang basketball program will be well represented for the next two years at Seminole State College in Seminole, Okla.
In fact, the AAAAA-East Conference will be well represented.
Last week, Forrest City Lady Mustang guard, Kanetra Pendleton signed with Seminole a Div. 2 junior college. Monday, Lady Mustang forward Katrina Floyd said "yes" to Seminole coach Rita Story-Schell. West Memphis center Tamala Turner has also committed to Seminole.
Story-Schell saw both Pandleton and Floyd work out during a visit to Forrest City last week. She offered Pendleton a scholarship on the spot and was very much interested in signing Floyd but had only one scholarship left to give and still had one more player to see in Monticello. She thought she was going to have a difficult decision to make -- that is, until one of her earlier recruits failed to complete her scholarship commitment, giving Story-Schell the extra scholarship and the chance to sign both Floyd and the Monticello athlete.
Floyd had already committed to Div. 3 Crowley's Ridge College back in March, although there was no scholarship involved. That, and a recent coaching change helped make Floyd's decision to go to Seminole easier.
"I really liked Floyd and she has the abilities to help out program," Story-Schell said last week. "I think that Pendleton and Floyd will see a great deal of playing time this coming year. We need a good, quick point guard with good ball-handling skills and I think we got that in Pendleton. Floyd is an in-between player with good range and the ability to post up when she needs to. Her leaping and shot-blocking abilities will be a valuable asset to this team."
Seminole has only four sophomores returning from last season's 18-12 team.
Floyd is the daughter of Stan and Beverly Floyd of Forrest City and the younger sister of former Forrest City standout Stanley Floyd.